


Books Are the Best Medicine

by Aceofstars16



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Brotherly Love, Brothers, Other, Sickfic, Stan O' War II, Teenage Stan Twins, Young Stan Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-09-01 06:15:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16759567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aceofstars16/pseuds/Aceofstars16
Summary: Ford can’t sleep well when he’s sick, and the only way for him to actually sleep is a strong sleeping pill or having a certain brother read to him.





	Books Are the Best Medicine

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr post](http://aceofstars16.tumblr.com/post/180543506863/books-are-the-best-medicine)  
> Inspired by [this picture](http://aceofstars16.tumblr.com/post/180438802423/siriuslymeg-doe-deck-a-hee-dron)

“Doe-deck-a-hee-dron? Sixer, what is this book even?” Stan squinted at the word, trying to figure out what the heck it was supposed to be. So far, he hadn’t been able to understand any of this book. But Ford was sick and Stan knew how sucky it was to feel like crap so he was trying to read it to cheer his brother up. Though how this book could make anyone happy was a mystery.

A hoarse laugh sounded beside Stan’s ear, and he glanced at his brother who had shuffled closer to get a better look at the book, but he was squinting and Stan wasn’t sure he could even see what was on the page without his glasses. But then again Stan didn’t wear glasses so he really didn’t know what it was like for Ford, all he knew was every time he tried his brother’s glasses on, everything looked super fuzzy.

“It’s a book about science,” Ford said in a scratchy voice, turning the book so Stan could see the cover. “Carl Sagan wrote it to help just about anyone understand science.”

“Well he’s doing a poor job of it,” Stan muttered as he opened the book again, looking for the last word he had read.

Ford chuckled again, but then the laughed turned into a cough and Stan quickly placed the book between him and his brother. “Hey don’t cough on me! I don’t want to get sick!”

“Sorry.” It was a quiet whisper, though Stan wasn’t sure if it was because of guilt or a sore throat.

“Eh, it’s okay, just don’t do it again.” Turning his attention back to the book, Stan started reading – or trying to read. Every few sentences, Ford usually had to help him pronounce a word, which resulted in him resting his head right next to Stan’s, a blanket pulled up to his ears.

“And…okay what is this word?” Stan asked, pulling the book closer to try and figure out how to even attempt pronouncing it. When there was no answer, Stan tilted his head and saw that Ford’s eyes were closed and his breathing was quiet – or as quiet as it could be with a stuffy nose.

“Great…” Stan muttered to himself. Ford was pretty much sleeping on him, so getting up wasn’t really much of an option. But he _was_ glad his brother seemed to be sleeping so well. Last night Ford had been coughing so much that neither of them had gotten much rest.

Looking at the book, Stan stuck his tongue out at it before tossing it to the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of his comics. It wasn’t a new one, but it beat the sciencey book. Reaching over, Stan stretched his arm as far as it could go while trying not to move Ford. His fingers barely reached the comic, but he managed to pull it a little closer so he could pick it up.

Taking another glance at his brother, Stan sighed, but as he opened up his comic, he felt a smile growing on his face. Maybe this wasn’t so bad, just as long as he didn’t get sick too.

* * *

Another loud cough shook the bed and Stan pulled the pillow off of his head. There was no way he was going to fall asleep if this kept up. He hadn’t heard Ford this bad since they were kids. Whatever he had caught, it was bad.

“Come on…” Ford’s voice sounded from above him and despite how quiet the words were, Stan could still hear the anguish in his brother’s voice. That was it. They were both miserable and Stan couldn’t take it.

Unwrapping his legs from the blankets and sheets, Stan flicked on the lamp next to their bunkbed and grabbed the first book he saw before snatching his pillow and blanket and tossing them up onto Ford’s bed.

“Stan, what are-“ Ford’s question was cut off by another bought of coughing.

“Just a sec.” Stan dug through the discarded tissues that had fallen from Ford’s bed until he found the small bottle. Then he climbed up the ladder, bottle and book in hand.

“Here,” he said, pouring out some of the liquid into the cup.

“I already took some Stan…”

“Yeah, well you didn’t take enough.” Holding out the cup towards him, Stan saw how bedraggled his brother looked. Yeah, this wasn’t acceptable.

Ford looked at the cup for a moment, then sighed and accepted it, gulping down the liquid, only to stick his tongue out at the taste.

A laugh escaped Stan as he took the cup and put it back on the bottle before tossing it onto the bedside stand. “Tastes terrible right? Now scoot.”

A confused look grew on Ford’s face, but he did as Stan asked, pressing himself up against the wall as Stan flopped down on his back and grabbed the book. He opened it and was about to start reading, but he could feel Ford’s gaze resting on him and he quickly looked over to see utter confusion etched on his brother’s face.

“What? We used to do this all the time when we were kids,” Stan asked, surprised at how defensive he felt. It was kind of silly, they were teenagers after all. They shouldn’t need to read to each other to sleep, but if it helped...

“I just…” Ford trailed off, looking at the book for a moment, then a small smile grew on his face and he lied down, pulling the covers up to his ears. “I’m listening.”

Stan felt a smirk growing on his face, but didn’t respond, he just started reading. It was a nerd book, of course it was, but he had to admit some of it was a little interesting.

“Huh…what do you know, I actually understand what they are saying here.” He looked over at Ford, a smile on his face, but Ford wasn’t listening. His chest was rising and falling and his eyes were closed, he looked happy, almost peaceful. Stan’s smile grew.

“Always works,” he said quietly, closing the book and tucking it next to him, knowing Ford wouldn’t approve of him throwing it off of the bed. Plus, it might hit something and he didn’t want to risk anything waking up Ford.

Pulling his own blanket up to his chin, Stan could feel Ford’s head pressing into his chest and he smiled as he let his own head rest against his brother’s. “Night bro bro.”

* * *

A yawn escaped Stan’s mouth as he settled down with a cup of coffee. Man was he glad this ship had autopilot, or whatever McGucket called it. It made things so much easier, especially since Ford had taken an unscheduled dip in the ocean and gotten a nasty cold.

Stan closed his eyes, enjoying the gentle rock of the ocean. That is, he was enjoying it until he heard a bout of coughing and indecipherable words coming from the bedroom, or cabin, or whatever it was called.

Sighing, Stan put down his coffee – making sure it wouldn’t slide off the table from the rocking – before heading into the room only to stop in the doorway. He frowned at what he saw. Ford was leaning over his desk, scribbling something in one of his new journals.

“I thought you were supposed to be sleeping.”

“Couldn’t sleep, so I figured I might as well do something productive,” Ford muttered as he continued to write down…whatever it was he wrote in those journals.

For a moment, Stan just stared at his brother, debating whether or not he should even try to convince him to rest. But then a huge coughing fit shook Ford’s entire body and any doubts died.

Stepping forward, Stan grabbed the journal and snapped it shut.

“Stanley! What are you doing? Give it back!” Ford glared at Stan, but with the bags under his eyes it didn’t look entirely threatening.

“Nope. You need sleep.”

“I told you, I can’t sleep. I need a sleeping pill to sleep and unfortunately I didn’t pack any so,” Ford gestured to the journal, “if you don’t mind giving me back my journal.”

Glancing at the book, Stan frowned, but then a memory sparked in the back of his mind. “On one condition.” Stan pointed to Ford’s bed.

Ford stared at Stan for a few seconds, then sighed. “Fine…but I’m not going to sleep, I already tried.”

“We’ll see about that.” Stan said, smiling as Ford raised his eye brow before flopping onto the bed. Then Ford held out his hand and Stan reluctantly handed the journal to his brother before grabbing another book – one of the many Ford had brought.

Then he walked over hopped on the bed as well.

“Stanley what are you-?” Realization dawned on Ford’s face only to be replaced by a frown. “Stanley, I really don’t think that’s going to-“

Stan ignored Ford and started reading, effectively stopping Ford from voicing his doubts. Over his voice, Stan heard a resigned sigh, but he didn’t stop reading, even when he noticed Ford still writing in his journal.

Time ticked onward. Ten minutes and the scratching of the pen stopped. Twenty minutes, a head rested on his shoulder, Ford correcting how Stan pronounced certain words. Thirty minutes and Stan’s throat was starting to get sore, but the quiet snoring next to him made up for it.

There was no holding back a smile as Stan looked at Ford, sleeping soundly despite his doubts. “Works every time…”

Leaning back on the pillow, Stan closed his eyes. He knew he couldn’t move, if he did, Ford would wake up, so he might as well take a nap too.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a headcanon that Ford gets really clingy when he's really sick, but only when he's feeling REALLY bad or hasn't slept a lot because of the sickness...and that plus the picture that I linked in the beginning really inspired me to write this because I need all of the Stan and Ford brother fluff...  
> Who knows, maybe I'll write one for when Stan gets sick, though I'd have to figure out if Ford would read to him or if he'd do something else...  
> Anyways, this was really fun to write and I hope y'all liked it! <3


End file.
